WristWatch Magazine - Page 44

COVER STORY
Quality control testing
made in house—for under $5,000. Unsurprisingly, as collectors
cal
have witnessed the steady upmarket crawl of the entire mechanical
watch industry, and the erosion of quality in the mid-priced segment, this new Carrera is the only Swiss made in-house mechanical
chronograph to sell for less than $5,000. The Carrera Heuer 01’s
decidedly democratic price point of under $5,000 will make it a
very hard option for collectors to ignore—particularly young
collectors and those developing a nascent appreciation for manufacture movements.
As to the origin of this new design and concept, it’s worth noting that other famous Biver creation, Hublot’s Big Bang. In fact, during a recent question-and-answer session in New York honoring ten
years of the Big Bang, Biver noted that he has long partnered with
many of the same watch industry people over and over throughout
his career, including a design team. Given its fusion-like 12-part
case and machine-like openworked movement, it seems plausible
that the brain trust responsible for making Hublot the industry sensation it is today had a hand in the new Carrera as well.
In terms of specifications, the new Carrera Heuer 01 comes
in at 45 mm in diameter, and features the aforementioned modular
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steel construction. Inside of this large watchcase is the skeletonized
automatic Calibre Heuer 01 movement, visible through sapphire
crystals on the front and on the back. Features that quickly differentiate this movement from its predecessor, Caliber 1887, are its visible skeletonized date disk, red column wheel, its new skeletonized
oscillating weight and its chronograph bridge. Caliber Heuer 01’s
power reserve is an ample 50 hours, running at rate of 28,800 bph,
allowing the wearer to time events to within 1/8th second accuracy.
And again, the movement itself is essentially a modified Caliber
1887, so the company knows that it’s reliability over the long term
will be very good.